The defender last week returned to his first professional club after leaving Qatari side Lekhwiya.

However, his former employers have refused to release the 34-year-old's registration, leaving Nancy to await an international transfer certificate from FIFA before their new recruit can be cleared to play.

"That will take a bit more time," Nancy vice-president Nicolas Holveck told L'Equipe. "We hope it will be straightened out during January."

Explaining the situation that led to the dispute, Holveck added: "Given that the club he played for in Qatar (Lekhwiya) had not paid him for several months, the player unilaterally terminated his contract. The Qataris then refused to provide clearance for him to leave."

Ouaddou previously played for Nancy between 1999 and 2001 - before leaving for English side Fulham - but returned for two years from 2008. He spent last season on loan from Lekhwiya to Qatar SC.

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t's wrong to be making a joke out of Bender's name at the expense of gay people. It's the kind of childish, uncivilised thing that Football365 would deride and ridicule if it was another media outlet saying. Why is there a need for jokes like this? Does it make your writers feel like men? F365 might suggest that I 'lighten up', but it is genuinely traumatic for people who have been oppressed all their lives to be the butt of jokes, and to be told...

ou can't blame De Gea for wanting to leave, he has enough to do in front of goal as it is as well as taking on the role of Man Utd's version of Derek Acorah in trying to contact and organise a defence that isn't there.